McCain in Syria
The Washington Times reports that Senator John McCain found his way into Syria recently to meet with Syrian rebels secretly.
The rebel leaders who met with Mr. McCain asked for help in the establishment of a no-fly zone, delivery of anti-aircraft weapons and U.S. airstrikes on military targets associated with the government of Mr. Assad and on Hezbollah, the militant Shiite Muslim movement based in neighboring Lebanon. Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has said his militias are committed to helping Mr. Assad defeat the rebels, many of whom are members of Sunni Muslims factions.
A spokesman for Mr. McCain confirmed that the senator made the trip, which was first reported on the news website The Daily Beast, but provided no further details.
From NBC News;
From the Associated Press;
A State Department official said the department was aware of McCain crossing into Syrian territory Monday, but referred further questions to McCain’s office. McCain spokeswoman Rachel Dean confirmed the Monday trip, but declined further comment.
I could go along with limited involvement by US troops, but this is another tar baby in the Middle East which could be effected by “mission creep” and it’s hard to tell who is who in this particular fight. The rebels you help today might be al Qaeda by nightfall. But at least McCain is giving the appearance of finding out what the situation is in Syria.
Category: Terror War
pardon me…second link should be…http://www.examiner.com/article/u-s-backed-syrian-rebels-reportedly-massacre-christian-village
@48, I agree, but there is at least one successful precedent. Haiti 1994. Sam Nunn, Jimmy Carter, and Colin Powell.
That being said, Syria is no place for American troops. I don’t understand why McCain is legitimizing the rebels by meeting them.
And beyond the State Department issue, I don’t see any parallels between Haiti ’94 and Syria ’13.
45: I know the Democrats run the Senate. My point is that McCain has no leadership position within his own party’s caucus. No conference post, no minority whip, no minority leader. Nothing.
Juan McPain & daughter should be sent back over to Syria for more fact finding . . . . and then have their visas, passports, and citizenships revoked while over there. Buh bye!
McCain admitted that he was broken by the North Viets. I would seem that he was never repaired. It is too late for him to earn his foreign affairs chops. He has become a joke and it ain’t pretty. His time has passed and he just can’t stand it.
If I recall correctly, McCain visited the U.S.-Mexico border to see what was actually going on there, too.
And nothing is being done there either.
It is my belief that McCain was there on POTUS authorization.
Regardless, there is no current side to back in Syria. It is NOW, Assad, Iran & Hezbollah vs. Hamas and Al-Qaeda. The opportunity has passed. Two years ago, there was a possibility of finding a “good side” to back. The Admin dithered that away.
And to those of you hoping we don’t “start” arming the enemy in Syria? That ship has also sailed. The Administration has been arming the Al-Qaeda side, through surrogates in Saudi Arabia, for over a year. And that is not the end of mistakes in Syria. It was the current Admin in the US that accomplished the “diplomatic” push to force the FSA into the hands of the Islamists.
Who are the victims in this? Syrian Civilians, 10% of whom are Christians, who lived in peace under Assad, and the bulk of whom have no desire to be oppressed under Ba’athists or Islamists.
At present, there is NO good side, and no workable solution. The ONLY way that a positive outcome could be attained would be an American invasion and occupation, with an American Constitution and government imposed, and I don’t think ANY of us are ready to suggest that manner of bringing about peace.
There is no such thing as a theocratic democracy. Elections in Iran and Egypt are a farce. Freedom cannot be caveated with “unless” against religion or the govt. Ask a Persian, a Tunisian, or an Egyptian. Citizens are NOT free, if only pro-govt speech is protected and only the state religion is permitted. Citizens are not free, if only the rulers have absolute rights, and only the govt has arms.
McCain needs to be drug screened.
Meets with Al-queda insurgents on Memorial Day.
Mccain needs to keep his old ass at home and kiss democrat ass the last place he needs to be is in Syria.
Going across borders and talking to enemies of the US is John Forbes Kerry’s job he’s the one who kept his boonie hat.